Cutter-mixer-feeder wagon, for fodder and grass or straw

Abstract: The invention carries out a cutter-mixer-feeder for fodder and grass or straw materials which includes a container (2) with at least one opening (3) for introducing the material (23) to be processed and at least one door (24) for discharging the processed material; inside the container there is at least one screw feeder (7), placed at the bottom (76) of said container (2) and provided with at least a pair of spirals (9, 10), one of which is rolled up clockwise, while the other counterclockwise. In the substantially central area of the screw feeder where said spirals (9, 10) meet, they set out a discoidal element (16) consisting of a right half spiral (162) and a left half spiral (161), each of which has at least one outlet (260) which is obtained by taking away a part of the half spiral itself.

Description: The invention is a wagon particularly suitable for cutting and mixing long-fibre products, such as fodder and grass or straw materials, made up in bales or in their natural state; it is provided with screw feeders which have been perfected in the profile of their central part. The US-A-4,344,580 discloses an apparatus for dispensing fibrous materials provided with at least one auger disc consisting of a sliced and spread disc having a toothed edge. This apparatus is particularly used for dispensing and regulating the mouvement of this fibrous materials. The wagons of the known kind are generally made up of a container, inside which, there are one or more screw feeders, placed partly in the lower area of the container and partly in its upper area. Such wagons are especially suitable for cutting and mixing short-fibre products and present great difficulties in cutting long-fibre products, such as fodder or straw or grass materials, particularly when great quantities are involved. As a matter of fact, while cutting or mixing long-fibre products the screw feeders placed in the upper part have a tendency easily clog up to quite, since the material gets entangled around them and prevents or even stops the rotation. Often it can go so far as to even bend the screw feeder. The same problem, even if to a lesser extent, arises also with the lower screw feeders. Furthermore, said operation of cutting becomes impossible when fodder is made up in bales. It is to find a solution for such difficulties that the inventor has carried out the perfected cutter-mixer-feeder wagon which is the object of the WO 93/00799, showing the features of the preamble of claim 1; Such a cutter mixer is provided with two screw feeders with opposing spirals placed at the bottom of the wagon and, in the area where said spirals converge, each shows a diaphragm which is orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the screw feeder and consists of two truncated cone-shaped surfaces united in correspondence with their greater base and converging towards the ends of each screw feeder. The screw feeders carried out following such a criterion considerably improve the operations of cutting and mixing the product, but still they are not the best solution to avoid clogs. Moreover, they do not ensure that the product is cut regularly enough with a steady absorption of power. It is to further improve the performance level in cutting, mixing and distributing the product that the wagon equipped with screw feeders with central perfected profile has been invented; its chief aim is to remove any possibility of clogging of the screw feeders while working. Another aim of the invention is to achieve a more regular cutting of the product. A further goal is to improve the rotation of the product inside the wagon and consequently to improve also the mixing of the product itself. Another aim is to accomplish a homogeneous rotation of the screw feeders with a steady absorption of power. Finally, a further goal is to improve the regularity in discharging the cut product out of the wagon. The aims described above have been achieved by carrying out a cutter-mixer-feeder for fodder and grass or straw materials, which comprises, according to the main claim: a container provided with at least one opening to let in the material to be processed and with at least one door to discharge the processed material; at least one screw feeder placed inside a compartment with curved profile obtained at the bottom of the container; said screw feeder is provided with at least a pair of spirals on which peripheral cutters are fixed, one being rolled up clockwise and the other counterclockwise starting from the ends of the screw feeder and of such a kind that they convey the processed material towards the central part of the screw feeder; characterized in that a central element consisting of a right half spiral and a left half spiral, each being joined to the other at both ends, is provided in the substantially central area of the screw feeder, each of said half spirals showing at least one outlet obtained by taking away a part of the half spiral, each outlet with the sides of its profile substantially orthogonal to each other. According to a favourite executive form the wagon is provided with two screw feeders and the central element of each of them consists of a pair of half spirals which are set so that the left half spiral faces the end of the right spiral of the screw feeder, while the right half spiral faces the end of the left spiral of the screw feeder itself. The outlets of the central element are two, one for each of the two half spirals which make it up, and are placed opposite to each other, preferably one at 1800 with respect to the other. Besides, at the end facing the corresponding half spiral that makes up the central element, each of the spirals forming the screw feeder presents other outlets obtained by taking away a part of spiral and angle-staggered with respect to the outlets made in the central element, so that each empty area corresponding to an outlet in the central element substantially faces a full area belonging to the spiral and vice versa. The aim described above is highlighted describing a favourite form for the implementation of the invention with reference to the attached tables: figure 1 shows a cross section of the wagon that is the object of the present invention; figure 2 shows an axonometric view of the screw feeders of the wagon; figure 3 shows an axonometric view of the screw feeders of the wagon; figure 4 shows the detail of the central part of one of the screw feeders in which the central element is obtained; figure 5 shows the cross section of one screw feeder obtained in correspondence with the central element superimposed on the end of the spiral of the screw feeder adjoining it; figure 6 shows another cross section of the screw feeder in correspondence with the final part of a spiral of the screw feeder superimposed on the central element adjoining it. As figure 1 shows, the wagon object of the present invention, referred to with 1 as a whole, consists of a container 2 on four wheels 4, which in its upper part has an opening 3 for loading the material to be processed. The container 2 is preferably made of plate and a pair of screw feeders 7 is placed at its bottom , each one of which, as figure 2 shows, is made up of a central part 8 on which two opposing spirals 9 and 10 are rolled up and is housed inside a compartment with curved profile 75 obtained at the bottom 76 of the container 2. In particular, the spiral 9 is rolled up counterclockwise, while the spiral 10 is rolled up clockwise so that starting from the two ends of the central part 8 they show an advancement converging in the central part of the screw feeder they belong to. On its periphery each of said spirals also presents a multiplicity of cutters 13 projecting with respect to the outer edge of the spirals themselves. As figures 2, 3 and 4 show, in correspondence with its central area each screw feeder 7 has a central element 16 consisting of a left half spiral 161 and a right half spiral 162; each of these has an outlet 260 which is obtained by taking away a part of each half spiral and shows the sides 261 of its profile being substantially orthogonal to each other. Besides, each of said half spirals making up the central element is arranged so that the left half spiral 161 is opposite to the final part 110 of the right spiral 10 of the screw feeder, while the right half spiral 162 is opposite to the final part 109 of the left spiral 9 of the screw feeder. In correspondence with the end 110 of the right screw feeder 10, there are other outlets 210 and likewise in correspondence with the end 109 of the left screw feeder 9 there are other outlets 209; said outlets at the ends of the screw feeders are obtained like the outlets of the central element, that is, by taking away a part of the spiral, and likewise said outlets have substantially orthogonal sides forming their profile. In particular, it can be noticed that the outlets at the ends of the spirals and in the central element are staggered, as figures 5 and 6 show. In particular, said figures show that each outlet 260 made in the central element 16 is opposite in axial direction to a part 310 of the right spiral 10 and to a part 309 of the left spiral 9 and likewise each outlet 209 and 210 respectively of the left 9 and right 10 spiral is opposite in axial direction to a part 316 of the central element 16. It is such a constructive form that allows to reduce to the least the possibility of clogging the screw feeders and at the same time it favours the mixing of the product during the cutting. As a matter of fact, when the material to be processed, in this case a bale 23 that can be seen in figure 1, is placed on the screw feeders 7, when they turn round clockwise 70, the right 10 and left 9 spirals perform an alternating motion that favours the crumbling of the bale. Moreover, as figure 4 shows, they push the material towards the centre of the screw feeder following respectively directions 410 and 409; the material is cut by the cutters 13 and when it comes up to the central element 16, it receives a counterthrust in the directions 461 and 462 respectively by the left half spiral 161 and the right half spiral 162 so as to still create an alternating motion on the material. Afterwards the material goes through the outlets 209 and 210 (the latter cannot be seen in figure 4) and it is favoured in doing so by the thrust of the parts 316 of the central element 16 visible in figures 5 and 6 which face said outlets, following the flow indicated by the arrows 562. On the opposite side of the screw feeder, which cannot be seen in figure 4, a flow takes place exactly in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrows 562. Consequently, the outlets of the screw feeders really serve to discharge the product and, by doing away with clogs, they favour a lesser absorption of power during the rotation of the screw feeders, so as to eliminate any absorption peaks which on the contrary occur in the known kinds wagons. Likewise, during the rotation of the screw feeders the material passes also through the outlets 260 made in the central element 16, pushed as it is respectively by the parts 310 and 309 of the screw feeder, which are opposite to said outlets, following the flow showed by arrow 563. Therefore it is the presence of such outlets 260, 210 and 209, one angle-staggered with respect to the other, that avoids the clogging of the screw feeders and favours the mixing of the material being processed. Between the screw feeders, near the final parts 110 and 109 and near the spirals of the screw feeders there is a pair of directional blades 80 axially spaced out, which can be seen in figure 1 and in figure 3 and are inclined in the rotation sense 70 of the screw feeders 7; their function is to orientate the flow of the material being processed in the rotation sense of the screw feeders in such a way as to avoid any clogs. During the cutting the product is directed upwards, precisely towards the right upper part of the screw feeder in correspondence with a deflector 29 applied to the side wall 27 of the container, where the rotation of the product is generally scarce. The upper surface 30 of said deflector 29, which is opposite to the discharge door 24 as figure 1 shows, is inclined in a diverging way towards the outside of the container. Considering the clockwise rotation 70 of the screw feeders 7, the presence of such a deflector with its surface 30 favours the turning of the material according to the direction 28. Further, figures 2, 3 and 4 show that between each half spiral 161 and 162 of the central element 16 and the final part of each spiral 10 and 9, one opposite to the other, there are drag blades 90 arranged in a direction which is substantially longitudinal and parallel to the axis of the screw feeder. As well as favouring the moving of the product upwards so as to help its mixing, these drag blades also improve the discharging of the cut product through the discharge door 24, which takes place with a more regular flow. Therefore, according to what has been said, one realises that the invention achieves the set goal. As a matter of fact it has been noticed that the presence of the outlets on the central element and on the ends of the spirals, along with the presence of the directional blades 80 and of the deflector 29, avoids any clogs of the screw feeders during the process and considerably improves the thrust of the product towards the upper part of the screw feeder, thus improving also the rotation of the product on the right side of the screw feeder close to the wall 27 of the wagon, an area where, on the contrary, the product would stay still. Obviously this improves the mixing of the product, too. It also ensures the advantage of reducing the power necessary for cutting the material, since the screw feeders work in conditions of lesser resistance moment. It has even been noticed, while making tests, that at the same conditions compared to known wagons with the same capacity it is possible to reduce the power of the installed engines. Change may be made to the cutter-mixer-feeder wagon without departing from the teaching of the invention as defined by the claims.

Claims: Cutter-mixer-feeder wagon for fodder and grass or straw materials comprising: a container (2) provided with at least one opening (3) for introducing the material (23) to be processed and at least one door (24) for discharging the material processed; at least one screw feeder (7), placed inside a compartment with curved profile (75) obtained at the bottom (76) of the container (2) and provided with at least a pair of spirals (9, 10) on which cutters (13) are fixed peripheral, one of said spirals being rolled up clockwise and the other counterclockwise starting from the ends of the screw feeder and being such that they convey the processed material towards the central part of said screw feeder, characterized in that a central element (16) consisting of a right half spiral (162) and a left half spiral (161), each being joined to the other at both ends, is provided in the area substantially central of the screw feeder, each of said half spirals showing at least one outlet (260) obtained by taking away a part of the half spiral, each outlet (260) showing the sides (261) of its profile being substantially orthogonal to each other. Cutter-mixer-feeder wagon according to claim 1), characterized in that said central element (16) has the right half spiral (162) that makes it up faced to the final part (109) of the left spiral (9) of the screw feeder and the left half spiral (161) faced to the final part (110) of the right spiral (10) of said screw feeder, each of said final parts of said spirals of the screw feeder showing at least one outlet (209, 210) obtained by taking away a part of the spiral and arranged so as not to coincide with any of the outlets (260) made in the central element (16). Cutter-mixer-feeder wagon according to claim 1) or 2), characterized in that the central element (16) shows two outlets (260), one opposite to the other in a substantially radial direction with respect to the screw feeder. Cutter-mixer-feeder wagon according to claim 3), characterized in that said two outlets (260) are arranged at an angle of 180, one with respect to the other. Cutter-mixer-feeder wagon according to claim 1), characterized in that the screw feeders (7) are two, are placed parallel to each other and have between them and in correspondence with their central part a pair of directional blades (80) fixed at the bottom (76) of the container (2); these blades are axially spaced out and inclined in the rotation sense (70) of the screw feeders (7). Cutter-mixer-feeder wagon according to claim 2), characterized in that between the final part (109, 110) of each spiral (9, 10) and the corresponding half spiral (162, 161) belonging to the central element (16), at least a drag blade (90) is placed, made up of a shaped wall fixed to the screw feeder and placed in a longitudinal direction which is substantially parallel to the axis of said screw feeder. Cutter-mixer-feeder wagon according to claim 1), characterized in that inside the container (2) and in correspondence with the central area of the screw feeders (7) there is a deflector (29) applied to a side wall (27) of said container (2) and placed opposite to the load door (24). Cutter-mixer-feeder wagon according to claim 7), characterized in that the deflector (29) shows at least an inclined surface (30) diverging towards the outside of the container (2).

Inventors: LOPPOLI GIUSEPPE, LOPPOLI, GIUSEPPE
Applicants: SEKO SPA, SEKO S.P.A.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: A01C3
IPC codes: A01K5, B65G33, B01F7, A01F29, B01F15, B01F13, A01C3, A01D90